Monday, August 08, 2016

The latest note from Clay making his case for a light rail petition plan . . .

Chastain gives final notice to KCMO City Attorney, Bill Geary, over his attempt to poison the light rail election.

City Attorney, Bill Geary, you deliberately tried to poison the upcoming light rail election by falsely stating before the Council's Finance Committee (July 20) that the light rail ballot question "could be illegal" and thus grounds for the council to repeal it, if approved by voters.

Mr Geary, you made this false empty legal threat against the light rail petition even though...

(1) You never presented to that committee any legal argument to back up your false, damaging, and phony assertion.

(2) You never communicated to the attorney for the Light Rail Committee of Commissioners, Jeff Carey, that the revised light rail petition submitted to the city "could be illegal" and thus grounds to be repealed, if approved by voters;

(3) You cited to our attorney numerous problems you had with the original petition and we addressed all of your concerns (in a revised petition) before we began circulating it. We even added numerous phrases into that revised petition language including ""if possible," "at or near," "to fund as much of as is possible," etc. in order to give the city much flexibility in trying to implement the plan.

Mr.Geary, on top of all that evidence against your phony charge, you even advised our attorney not to attend that council hearing because you told him, "it might inflame the council." How deceptively thoughtful of you.

Mr. Geary, you set us up, and without our attorney there to legally defend the light rail petition before that public city council hearing against your spurious charge, you were conveniently unopposed and free to disperse your poison and blindside the light rail petition.
Of course, your false and damaging assertion was printed in a major KC Star news story the next day. This has resulted in alienating the council against the light rail ballot question, scaring voters, confusing the media (see KCPT's "Ruckus" show in which host Mike Shanin was nonchalantly suggesting that the council could repeal another light rail vote of the people based on your assertion the petition "could be illegal"), and otherwise clouding the light rail election.

A side note...On that same Ruckus show even panelist and attorney, Steve Mirakian, did not understand to what legal argument you were citing in asserting the light rail petition "could be illegal."

Mr Geary, in the last 10 years you have been working for a dictatorial acting government that has...

Mr Geary, all I want is a fair and open debate on the merits of the proposed light rail plan itself. Nothing more and nothing less. Then, let the voters decide.

But you Mr. Geary, and the arrogant acting and manipulative government you work for, continue to play dirty and act in bad faith to torpedo any valid petition from the people.

Mr Geary, I will not allow your bogus legal threat against the light rail petition to stand, cloud, and otherwise poison this light rail election.

Mr Geary this is your final notice...Send out a press release by tomorrow at noon retracking your false and damaging statement to the council that the light rail petition "could be illegal" and thus grounds for the council to repeal it, if approved by voters.

Failure to do so, will result in our filing a discipline complaint against you with the Missouri Bar Association, sending them a copy of this press release, and possibly taking further legal action.

Clay Chastain...Degreed electrical engineer, KCMO registered voter and part-time resident of KCMO, and the leader, member, and spokesperson for the Light Rail Committee of Petitioners.
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7 Comments:

*retracting. It's very hard to take threatening press releases seriously when the author doesn't bother to edit for content and clarity.

I applaud Mr. Geary for protecting the citizens and taxpayers in KCMO from frivolous and irresponsible petitions such as Mr. Chastain's.

At what point does he ask himself, "Maybe it's not everyone else, maybe it's me?" It reminds me of a funny Key and Peele sketch conclusion in which the main protagonist self-realizes his true position by stating, "Ooooohhh, I get it. I'm not persecuted, I'm just an asshole."

This will NEVER end with Clay. If/When his plan fails in November, it'll be because the KCMO government poisoned voters against his plan and he'll just come back with a different version of his ridiculous plan next year.

The man is insane. Doesn't he have anything better to do? His plan relies on raising taxes for everyone, taking money from the bus system and relying on funds that he CANNOT guarantee will be available.

Let's just say for the sake of the argument his plan passes and it legally has to go into construction. It'll fail miserably from a financing perspective. And when it does, WE will be left to pick up the pieces while Clay will mysteriously disappear back to Virginia.

No one is trying to hear about anything that will raise taxes even more in this town. In the current climate where people are already pissed about large corporations getting public money to do business here, already high tax rates and such, I can't see how his plan even has a chance of winning. More surprising is that he found 1700 other nut jobs to sign his petition to get it on the ballot in the first place.

Yes, we could use a light rail system. But his plan is the epitome of financial irresponsibility. It's all about Clay's ego. He wants this plan to happen to make a name for HIMSELF. No other plan, in his eyes, is valid unless it's 100% his plan. And his plan will financially break the city more than the city is already financially broken.

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